New Michael Jackson Album ‘Xscape’ Due In May

A new Michael Jackson album, featuring eight unheard tracks from the late singer’s vaults, will be released in May, his official website announced Monday.

Titled “Xscape,” the album will be released in conjunction with his estate and Epic Records. Label head L.A. Reid took charge of ”contemporising” each of the recordings on the album, which will be out on May 13.

He said in a statement: ”Michael left behind some musical performances that we take great pride in presenting through the vision of music producers that he either worked directly with or expressed strong desire to work with,” adding, ”We are extremely proud and honored to present this music to the world.”

Timbaland is the lead producer for the record, while Rodney Jerkins, Stargate, Jerome ‘Jroc’ Harmon and John McClain have also worked on the surprise record.

L.A Reid added: ”’Xscape’ continues the tradition of naming Jackson’s albums after one of its songs. The title track was written and produced by Jackson and Jerkins, who recorded the original with the singer.”

Epic will release a deluxe edition of the record to include all the sourced recordings in their original form.